Module fabrication of solar cells with low resistivity electrodes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10164127-B2
Application number	US-201615346444-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 8, 2016
Priority date	Jan 11, 2013
Publication date	Dec 25, 2018
Grant date	Dec 25, 2018

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar module. The solar module includes a front-side cover, a back-side cover, and a plurality of solar cells situated between the front- and back-side covers. A respective solar cell includes a multi-layer semiconductor structure, a front-side electrode situated above the multi-layer semiconductor structure, and a back-side electrode situated below the multi-layer semiconductor structure. Each of the front-side and the back-side electrodes comprises a metal grid. A respective metal grid comprises a plurality of finger lines and a single busbar coupled to the finger lines. The single busbar is configured to collect current from the finger lines.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A bi-facial photovoltaic structure, comprising:
a first electrode grid positioned on a first surface of a multilayer body; and
a second electrode grid positioned on a second surface of the multilayer body;
wherein each of the electrode grids comprises a plurality of finger lines that are aligned substantially parallel to each other and includes only a single busbar that is substantially perpendicular to the finger lines;
wherein a first single busbar of the first electrode grid is positioned substantially near a center of the first surface; and
wherein a second single busbar of the second electrode grid is positioned substantially near a center of the second surface.

2. The photovoltaic structure of claim 1 , wherein a respective electrode grid comprises a Cu grid formed using an electroplating technique.

3. The photovoltaic structure of claim 2 , wherein the Cu grid is coated with a protective layer comprising Ag or Sn.

4. The photovoltaic structure of claim 2 , wherein the electrode grid further comprises a Cu seed layer formed using a physical vapor deposition technique.

5. The photovoltaic structure of claim 1 , wherein a width of the single busbar is between 0.5 and 3 mm.

6. A solar module, comprising:
a first cover;
a second cover; and
a plurality of bi-facial photovoltaic structures positioned between the first and second covers, wherein a respective photovoltaic structure comprises:
a multilayer body;
a first electrode grid positioned on a first surface of a multilayer body; and
a second electrode grid positioned on a second surface of the multilayer body;
wherein each of the electrode grids comprises a plurality of finger lines that are aligned substantially parallel to each other and includes only a single busbar that is substantially perpendicular to the finger lines;
wherein a first single busbar of the first electrode grid is positioned substantially near a center of the first surface; and
wherein a second single busbar of the second electrode grid is positioned substantially near a center of the second surface.

7. The solar module of claim 6 , further comprising a stringing ribbon configured to couple the first single busbar of the first electrode grid of a first photovoltaic structure to the second single busbar of the second electrode grid of an adjacent photovoltaic structure, wherein a width of the stringing ribbon is substantially similar to a width of the single busbar.

8. The solar module of claim 6 , wherein a respective electrode grid comprises a Cu grid formed using an electroplating technique.

9. The solar module of claim 8 , wherein the Cu grid is coated with a protective layer comprising Ag or Sn.

10. The solar module of claim 8 , wherein the electrode grid further comprises a Cu seed layer formed using a physical vapor deposition technique.

11. The solar module of claim 6 , further comprising one or more maximum power point tracking (MPPT) integrated circuit (IC) chips.

Assignees

• Solarcity Corp
• Tesla Inc

Inventors

• Heng Jiunn Benjamin
• Fu Jianming
• Xu Zheng
• Yang Bobby

Classifications

• H01L31/0747

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/048

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/0488

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/0684

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/02021

  Electricity · mapped topic